Miserable at best
by bee-black
Summary: It's the night of the Yule Ball and Harry is feeling miserable while looking to Hermione dancing with Krum. But what if she overheard something he said, and then did something he would never forget? Based on the song "Miserable at best", by Mayday Parade. AU Harmony all the way!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi there! This is my first fic published here. I have written a lot of fanfiction over the years, but I lost nearly all of them, sadly. Anyway, I had this idea while listening to "Miserable at best" by Mayday Parade, it's a cute little depressing song and this fic is inspired by it. Go listen if you want to! I hope you enjoy this, and please excuse me if there is some misspelling, English is not my first language. I'm brazilian, by the way!**

_It was the night of the Yule Ball._

Ever since Harry found out that Hermione had a date - secret, yes, but still a date - he had been kicking himself for not having the courage to ask her as soon as he had found out about the dance. He had been developing feelings for her, kind of unconsciously, since they had been spending more and more time together after Ron refused to believe he hadn't entered the Triwizard Tournament on his own. They had developed a habit: wake up, have breakfast together, study, look for spells that could be useful in the competition, and maybe spend some time by the lake at the end of the day.

It was on one of these moments when they were hanging out by the lake that he realised something had changed. Never before he had appreciated how cute her bushy hair was, or how her eyes sparkled when she smiled at him, or how soft her skin looked when the sun was shining upon them. He suppressed those feelings when he and Ron went back to friendly terms after the first task; he knew the red head fancied her. But he couldn't stop wanting her to like him, to tell him that she wanted to go back to the way they were, although she never did. She smiled weakly whenever him and Ron were talking about Quidditch or the tournament, and she never asked to be alone with him again.

He should have known. He should have figured it out that she thought he preferred Ron over her, that by having his best mate back he wouldn't want the bookworm best friend with him 24/7 anymore. Sure, it was great having Ron around to talk about silly things, but after a while he realised it was just that, silly. Ron had shown his jealous nature again, and had hurt him and Hermione in the process. And then he went back acting like it never happened, but Harry had changed. He was just realising that when Ron opened his mouth to insult Hermione by saying she was a girl, after all, and could go to the ball with him, and then he heard she boiling with anger when she said she already had a date. He froze on the spot, and spent the next several days trying to figure out who _he_ was, how she would look on _his_ arms when they were dancing, and so on.

And that's how he ended up going with Parvati, after taking a deep breath and accepting that Hermione just didn't like him that way. When he saw her looking amazingly gorgeous with Viktor Krum by her side, he knew there was no way they would go back to how things once were. He danced with Parvati while glaring at Hermione, and then tried to be nice to his date so that she wouldn't think he was a jerk. But Parvati was Lavender's best friend, which meant she was always paying attention to everything happening around her.

"Harry... you like her, don't you?" she said, smiling sadly. He froze.

"Like who? I don't know what you are talking about, I don't like anybody, I was just looking over to the food table and-"

"Oh Harry, please. It's all over your face. You are in love with Hermione Granger." He sighed.

"Oh. I guess that you of all people would've figured it out pretty quickly, huh? I think so, yes. But look how happy she is. I can't do anything now..."

"Well, it's up to you, you know. But I wouldn't give up so fast, if I were you. Just saying." She winked at him, smiling, and he gave her a sad smile back. She just didn't know how things were with them.

"Do you think it's ok if I go dancing with that cute Beauxbatons boy? He's been eyeing me all night, and you are obviously taken with someone else, so..." She said, pointing to the guy in question.

"Oh, yes, why not? I think I need to take a break, anyway. Have fun, Parvati. And... thanks for the talk. I'm sorry I couldn't be a better date to you." He sighed, and squeezed her side a little.

"Oh, it's quite alright. I had a lovely evening so far, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right?" She giggled, kissed him in the cheek, and went to find the boy, while he went to sit next to Ron.

He had an awful expression, like he just had eaten a poisoned sheperd's pie or something, and Harry thought that was odd.

"Hey, where's Padma? What's up with this face?"

"I don't know, and I don't care. It's... it's _her. _How could she do this to me? Errr, I mean, to you? Fraternizing with the enemy like that?" And he glared at the spot Hermione was dancing with Krum, smiling as he kissed her cheek. Harry frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean? She just came to the ball with Krum, it's not illegal..."

"WHAT? You are going to take her side over this? I mean, it's obvious he just came with her so he can make her tell all your plans for the tournament! Why else would he come with her?" He asked, with a tone Harry didn't appreciate. He was starting to become angry.

"Gee Ron, I don't know. Maybe it's because she's beautiful, and fun, and loyal, and scary smart? How about that?" He said, glaring at his best mate.

"Ha! Beautiful? Are you crazy, mate? That's HERMIONE over there. Sure, she looks kinda hot in that dress... Hey, do you reckon Krum just want to, you know, bang her? That would explain and -" He said no more, because Harry got up real quickly, and punched him so hard that he fell on the floor, bleeding, a shocked expression on his face. The entire hall had stopped to see what was going on, but Harry didn't care. He had to do something

Harry hissed in a very low, very angry tone. "Never, ever again talk about Hermione like that. You are no friend of mine or hers. You are despicable. How could you say something so awful about a person who has done nothing but help you all these years? If not for her, you would have failed some tests, and maybe you'd even be dead. Don't be so fucking ungrateful, ok? Now get out of my face."

Ron, still looking shocked, but now with anger mixed in his expression as well, got up and stormed out of the hall. Harry sighed, and looked at Hermione. She understood he would explain later, and he stormed out of the hall as well. He found a staircase where he could sit, and buried his face on his hand, gulping to control the sudden urge to cry.

"I bet he gets the nerve to walk the floor and ask my girl to dance... she'll say yes, of course, who wouldn't? She's all that I hoped I'd find in every single way. He's so lucky. It could've been me, if I wasn't so dumb! Why didn't I ask her right away when McGonagall told me I needed a date for the ball? Why?" Silent tears were running through his face now, but he didn't care. He had to let it out, and it was better to do it here where no one was looking. That way, he could make peace with the situation as soon as possible.

"Oh, damn. I doubt I will be able to sleep anytime soon, because I would just keep dreaming of you smiling when his lips touched your cheek... And I've got the point that I should leave you alone, but we both know that I'm not that strong, at least not right now. And I miss the lips that made me smile... Oh God, Hermione, what am I going to do? I guess that I can live without you, but without I'll be miserable at best!" He was crying, and didn't heard the gasp from behind him.

"Harry?" A soft voice spoke behind him, and he froze on the spot.

_"Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!", he thought._

"Harry?" She tried again, but he didn't have the courage to turn around and face her, fearing that she had heard everything. "_Some Gryffindor_ _I am, huh?"_

"Harry, please... is that true?"

He finally turned around and saw her pleading eyes. He saw hope in them, but didn't understand. He didn't even understand what she was doing out here, when she could've been dancing with Krum.

"Hum.. Hi, Hermione. Er, kinda of. I mean, yes. Yes, okay? It's all true. Now please don't laugh at me, you can go back to Krum."

And then she hugged him so hard he suddenly couldn't breathe. He didn't understand, but wasn't going to complain, so he hugged her back and smiled a little, until she let go of him, her face with an unreadable expression.

"Oh, you silly boy!"

And then she kissed him.

**A/N: Ok, so that was it for chapter one! I don't know if I should make another one, and then an epilogue, or just skip to the epilogue. What do you guys think?**

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**_** First of all, WOW! Thanks for all the reviews and favorites, guys! I was really surprised, eh! Remember, English is not my first language and I don't have a beta, so bare with me if there are any errors - feel free to point them to me, though!.**

**P.S.: This is a hallows and prophecy free story, I'm just having a bit of fun.**

Harry woke up early the next morning. He couldn't believe how last night had turned out! One minute he was feeling miserable, and in the next the girl of his dreams had kissed him. And he kissed her back. Again, and again, and again. They had spent the night talking about their feelings and life in general. Harry had found out that Viktor Krum had asked Hermione to the ball as a friend, because he was sick of the fan girls after him. He told her how relieved he was that that was the case, and she had giggled at the thought of him being jealous of Viktor. "I've always liked you, silly. I thought you knew, but just didn't feel the same way", she had said. Ha!

He told her about the things Ron had said, and then comforted her when she let out some tears. They talked about the tournament, the strange things that were going on, kissed some more, laughed, and dreaded the talk they knew they had to have with Ron.

They kissed goodnight at the common room, which was empty by the time they came back, and Harry went to bed with a smile on his lips. He noted that Ron was already fast asleep, and let out a sigh of relief.

Now he looked at the bed of the red head, sighed once more, and went down the stairs hoping to find Hermione and head for breakfast. He wasn't disappointed.

"Hey!" She smiled at him and hugged him tight. "Wanna head down for breakfast? I was thinking we could go to the library afterwards, I found this really good book with some spells that you could use -" He silenced her with a peck on the lips, feeling her smile some more.

"Hey, 'Mione, slow down, okay? I know you are eager to show me this book, but I want to enjoy a little time with you..." He said, and then kissed her more deeply. Harry wanted the moment to last forever, but unfortunately someone had other plans.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" They heard Ron shouting and quickly separated, then looked at each other. Hermione nodded and Harry stepped forward to tell their best friend what was going on. The people in the room went silent, not knowing what to think.

"Good morning to you too, Ron! Look, we can explain. I've had feelings for Hermione for quite some time now, and last night after you stormed out of the hall we finally talked and decided to get together. It turns out she likes me too, so I feel like the luckiest bloke in the world right now, and we would really appreciate it with you would be happy for us."

As soon as he finished talking, he knew Ron hadn't listen to a word he had just said. He had the angry/jealous look on his face again, and it was directed towards Hermione.

"So, Krum's not good enough for you? Not famous enough? I guess it's hard to compare to the Boy-Who-Lived anyways, I should've figured you were just using the guy for some time before you could catch the real prize, huh? I shouldn't be surprised, it's always Harry this and Harry that, but I never thought you would act like... like some scarlet woman!"

He spat at her, and tears started popping out of Hermione's eyes when she approached him. She looked at him with a really hurt look on her face, and then slapped him. Hard.

"HOW DARE YOU! How dare you accuse me of such things when all I ever did to you was carry you around like a dead weight? Yes, that's right, Ronald. Who's been doing your homework for the past four years? Who's been saving your ass when you and Harry run into trouble? ME! Me, that's who! And what do you do in return? You mock me, humiliate me, and then goes on like nothing happened! Well, I'm sorry that you feel this way, but I refuse to speak with you EVER again! Harry told me what you said about me last night, and I was willing to forgive you for HIS sake, but that's enough for me. Good riddance!" She spat at a shocked Rom, and then walked away from the room.

"That crazy -"

"Now, Ronald, don't you finish that sentence if you wish to live another day. Hermione is my girlfriend and you had no right to open your stupid mouth and say shit about her. She is right; I stood by you one too many times, and all you did was walk away from us because of your petty jealousy every chance you got! So guess what, I'm sticking with her now. Good day to you." He was leaving the common room when he sensed danger, and dived to his right to avoid the spell he knew was coming. When he turned around, Ron's face was red with anger and his wand was in his hand.

"So this is it, then? Reduced to shoot jinxes behind your supposed best mates' back?"

"You are NOT my best mate anymore. You, you robbed my girl!" Harry had to laugh at that.

"Oh? When was Hermione your girl, tell me? Was it when you called her a nightmare and almost got her killed in first year? Or when you didn't give a crap about visiting her in the hospital wing for more than ten minutes in second year? No, it must've been when you spent weeks not talking to her over your stupid rat, and then MY broomstick last year! How come I did not see the signs?"

Ron looked like he was about to explode. "YOU KNEW I FANCIED HER, BUT BECAUSE YOU'RE THE FUCKING BOY-WHO-LIVED YOU DECIDED YOU HAD TO HAVE HER TOO!"

"I didn't _decide to have_ Hermione, Ron. I just fell in love with her. And you sure have a funny way of demonstrating that you like someone! By bickering with her all the time, that sure shows a girl how much you appreciate her, right?"

Harry pulled out his wand when he saw Ron's arm move, and was saddened when his former best friend tried to curse him again.

"Furnun..."

"Petrificus totalus!" Harry shouted, and Ron fell on his back while the people on the room felt it was safe to breathe again. More quicker than he thought it was possible, Dean and Seamus dragged Ron upstairs, and everybody started cheering.

"I knew it!"

"You and Hermione were meant for each other, you know?"

"I don't know how you two put up with that git for so long!"

Harry didn't expect this kind of reaction. He saw Neville approaching him, and signaled for them to get out.

"Hey, mate, are you okay?"

"Will be. It's more important to find Hermione right now, she was hurt by that stuff Ron said" He sighed, walking towards the library. She always went to the library when something upset her.

"Yeah, I saw that. Hm, Harry, did you know that Ron has been badmouthing you for some time now, when you aren't around?" Neville ran his hand through his hair, kind of nervous about being the one telling Harry the truth about Ron.

"What? Since when? I thought we were friends..." He sounded disappointed, but not really surprised. With the way Ron had been acting this year, it was a possibility he should've considered.

"Well, I guess since the end of second year..."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Harry. I truly thought you knew and just chose to ignore it or something. He's always going on about how you steal his glory in the adventures, and is really full of yourself and such. We don't listen to him, you know, but he still does it from time to time in the common room."

Harry felt that something was broken inside him.

In the end, he did find Hermione in the library, of course. He told her what Neville had said about Ron, but she didn't seem so surprised.

"I mean, look at all the times he insulted or mocked me. If I was his 'other best friend' and he did such things, what was stopping him from saying stuff about you, too? He probably didn't say it in front of you because he was afraid of something."

Harry agreed, and sighed. He really should've seen it coming. Squeezing his girlfriend's hand, he led her to lake, to possibly spend some quality time before confabulating about the Tournament some more.

Things progressed really quickly after the ball. Harry and Hermione spent a lot more time with Neville, who proved to be a very fun and loyal boy. And of course, he was a genius in Herbology, even Hermione asked for his help sometimes! Ron stopped talking with the newest couple in the school altogether, ignoring them all the time. This saddened the duo a bit, and they did try to speak to him from time to time, only to receive a sneer, or a mild insult (specially Hermione) in response. Eventually, they stopped trying, and even though it saddened them to lose a friend, they knew that Ron was not mature enough to apologize and accept their relationship.

Sooner rather than later, the day of second task arrived. Harry, having figured out the clue right after the Yule Ball, panicked when he discovered that Hermione was going to be taken to the bottom of the lake, and only calmed down when she assured him that Dumbledore and the others would never place the hostages in any 'real' danger. He felt a lot better when Neville announced that he knew of a plant, Gillyweed, that allowed a person to breathe underwater for an hour. He had Dobby sneak out some from Snape's private quarters, and he was feeling very relaxed when he went to the Black Lake. That is, until he noticed that not only Hermione was missing, but Ron, too! He found that to be really strange, since he knew the red head wasn't close to any of the other champions.

So it was a great surprise when he tried to grab Hermione and the merpeople screamed and pointed at Ron. He was his, Harry's, hostage? Well, there was no way in hell he would leave Hermione to be rescued by anyone else, so he started sending hexes and the merpeople quickly dispersed. When the couple finally emerged, Dumbledore was furious.

"Harry, my boy, why didn't you rescue Mr. Weasley? He was your hostage after all, didn't the merpeople warned you?"

"Sir, with all due respect, there's no way in hell that I would 'sorely miss' Ron more than my girlfriend here. Besides, I don't think we are friends anymore, since he hasn't spoke to either of us since December..." Dumbledore seemed shocked by this revelation, and spoke no more.

But when the hour was up, and the other champions had arrived with their hostages (minus Fleur, who had been injured, but the merpeople had brought her sister back), a flash of light was seen in the bottom of the lake and Ron disappeared.

"HARRY! I think Ron had a portkey in him!" Hermione shouted, with her hands covering her face in a sign of desperation.

"What? Do you think that whoever put my name in the Goblet did this, hoping that I would grab Ron and go somewhere?"

"Oh my God, Harry, that has got to be it!" But Harry heard no more, because there was an uproar. Dumbledore was being screamed at by Percy Weasley, and somehow Moody, Karkaroff and Snape were screaming in agony. Harry ran to Dumbledore as fast as he could, Hermione close behind.

"Professor! Why are the other Professors screaming in pain?"

"But... It can't be. It can't. Harry, go to the castle now. I think I know who is behind all this, but you need to go somewhere safe."

"But sir, what about Ron? We need to get him, he could be hurt or -"

"Do not fear, Harry, I will get Mr. Weasley back." He turned around and stunned Moody, and then levitated him towards the castle. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and frowned in confusion.

"Harry, I think it will be for the best if we head to the Hospital Wing. That way, we will be there when Professor Dumbledore brings Ron back, and we can figured out why everything is so crazy.

And so they went.

_**A/N: **_**So, new chapter! I'm sorry that it took me so long to update this. Next: the epilogue. :)**


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